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For those who are looking to save $$$ by using an online pharmacy, be careful which one you choose. Here is a article recently published in a Canadian newspaper:
While not all internet pharmacy are scams - be careful about ones that are too good to be true - the extremely low prices could be those fake Indian generics with no active drug, or the fake Chinese generics with contaminated active ingredients.
As a long time forum member says "Be careful out there!"
Cyber-criminals from Russia are taking advantage of Canada's reputation for quality health care, bombarding the Internet with unwanted e-mail advertising counterfeit and potentially lethal male-enhancement drugs and painkillers, according to online security experts.
"Almost every illegal pharmacy that's out there invokes Canada," said John Praed, a Virginia-based lawyer who has filed a lawsuit to investigate the online pharmaceutical market.
"This will taint Canada," Praed said.
The current king of the online pharmaceutical spamming world calls itself "Canadian Pharmacy," which according to Praed is an illegitimate operation based in Russia that distributes more than 75 different counterfeit medications produced in India and China.
He said they use Canada as a selling tool because the biggest market for online drugs is the U.S., and Canada has a reputation for providing cheap, safe medications to Americans.
It is estimated that more than 200 legitimate online pharmacies are based in Canada, but they are being undermined by the illegal operations co-opting Canada's reputation, said Tim Smith, general manager of the Canadian International Pharmacy Association. (CIPA is the membership association for online Canadian pharmacies licensed to sell medications internationally.)
Smith said legitimate Canadian online pharmacies provide a safe and affordable source of prescription drugs, and the illegal pharmacies have the ability to hurt their business.
"It's our reputation, our very strong reputation that stands to be affected by the rogue operators," said Smith.
"We're committed to safety and we don't want anybody around that can tarnish our reputation by some underhanded practice."
Smith said his organization frequently gets calls from customers complaining about the business practices of Canadian Pharmacy.
"They look for somebody to take action against, an operator that we can't find," said Smith.
"People are price shopping, but they are also looking for a safe source."
The enterprise behind Canadian Pharmacy -- which bills itself as "the No. 1 Internet Online Drugstore" -- operates thousands of sites that use variations of the name.
Customers are reached by flooding inboxes with spam, the unwanted and sometimes nefarious e-mail messages that advertise everything from lottery winnings to cheap come-ons associated with Canadian Pharmacy.
According to Pat Peterson, the chief security researcher for networking giant Cisco Systems, the public face of Canadian Pharmacy is a Russian-owned website called GlavMed.com. It calls itself a "pharmacy affiliate program," where registered members have access to advertising "expertise" and website templates that look exactly like the Canadian Pharmacy sites, he said.
Peterson conducted a yearlong investigation trying to pinpoint the kingpin of Canadian Pharmacy and six other pharmaceutical spammers that play into the Canadian reputation. But, finding them is not easy. Websites are torn down and rebuilt on a regular basis, and they are not registered under real names with real addresses.
"The trick to being a good bad guy is to look like a billion good guys," said Praed, whose investigators track 50,000 spam sites a day.
The experts agreed that the only way to find the criminals is through the money the sites raise, of which there is plenty. Peterson estimated that Canadian Pharmacy makes tens of millions of dollars for its operators each year.
"There's no doctors, no prescriptions, no consultations, no buildings, but they will ship you medications," said Peterson. "If you make a purchase, then they open the kimono, so to speak."
Peterson's team placed four orders with Canadian Pharmacy for Viagra, the sexual-enhancement medication manufactured in the U.S. by Pfizer, and the most popular drug ordered online.
Drugs that people might be embarrassed to purchase in person, like sexual-enhancements and anti-depressants, are the most common orders, Peterson said.
"Almost every illegal pharmacy that's out there invokes Canada," said John Praed, a Virginia-based lawyer who has filed a lawsuit to investigate the online pharmaceutical market.
"This will taint Canada," Praed said.
The current king of the online pharmaceutical spamming world calls itself "Canadian Pharmacy," which according to Praed is an illegitimate operation based in Russia that distributes more than 75 different counterfeit medications produced in India and China.
He said they use Canada as a selling tool because the biggest market for online drugs is the U.S., and Canada has a reputation for providing cheap, safe medications to Americans.
It is estimated that more than 200 legitimate online pharmacies are based in Canada, but they are being undermined by the illegal operations co-opting Canada's reputation, said Tim Smith, general manager of the Canadian International Pharmacy Association. (CIPA is the membership association for online Canadian pharmacies licensed to sell medications internationally.)
Smith said legitimate Canadian online pharmacies provide a safe and affordable source of prescription drugs, and the illegal pharmacies have the ability to hurt their business.
"It's our reputation, our very strong reputation that stands to be affected by the rogue operators," said Smith.
"We're committed to safety and we don't want anybody around that can tarnish our reputation by some underhanded practice."
Smith said his organization frequently gets calls from customers complaining about the business practices of Canadian Pharmacy.
"They look for somebody to take action against, an operator that we can't find," said Smith.
"People are price shopping, but they are also looking for a safe source."
The enterprise behind Canadian Pharmacy -- which bills itself as "the No. 1 Internet Online Drugstore" -- operates thousands of sites that use variations of the name.
Customers are reached by flooding inboxes with spam, the unwanted and sometimes nefarious e-mail messages that advertise everything from lottery winnings to cheap come-ons associated with Canadian Pharmacy.
According to Pat Peterson, the chief security researcher for networking giant Cisco Systems, the public face of Canadian Pharmacy is a Russian-owned website called GlavMed.com. It calls itself a "pharmacy affiliate program," where registered members have access to advertising "expertise" and website templates that look exactly like the Canadian Pharmacy sites, he said.
Peterson conducted a yearlong investigation trying to pinpoint the kingpin of Canadian Pharmacy and six other pharmaceutical spammers that play into the Canadian reputation. But, finding them is not easy. Websites are torn down and rebuilt on a regular basis, and they are not registered under real names with real addresses.
"The trick to being a good bad guy is to look like a billion good guys," said Praed, whose investigators track 50,000 spam sites a day.
The experts agreed that the only way to find the criminals is through the money the sites raise, of which there is plenty. Peterson estimated that Canadian Pharmacy makes tens of millions of dollars for its operators each year.
"There's no doctors, no prescriptions, no consultations, no buildings, but they will ship you medications," said Peterson. "If you make a purchase, then they open the kimono, so to speak."
Peterson's team placed four orders with Canadian Pharmacy for Viagra, the sexual-enhancement medication manufactured in the U.S. by Pfizer, and the most popular drug ordered online.
Drugs that people might be embarrassed to purchase in person, like sexual-enhancements and anti-depressants, are the most common orders, Peterson said.
As a long time forum member says "Be careful out there!"
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